Card-ledger desk.



' No. 677,786; Patented my *2, |901.

' G. B. MELENEY.

GARD LED GER DESK.

(Application Bled Sept. 10, 1990.) .m0 Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE B. MELENEY, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LIBRARY BUREAU, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARD-LEDS ER DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 677,786, dated J' lily 2, 1901.

Application filed September 10, 1900. Serial No. 29,525. (No model.)

T0 LZZ whom, it may concern:

. Be it known that I, GEORGE B. MELENEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Card- Ledger Desks, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The use of the card system of bookkeeping and keeping accounts and records of all descriptions has now become so extensive that special office furniture has become necessary suited to the peculiar requirements thereof, and accordingly my present invention provides a special desk foruse in connection with cards as a card-ledger desk. In using such a desk the record-keeper usually stands in front of the same in position to examine quickly and readily the cards or record-sheets, which are stood on end in the desk provided with an open top, and it is necessary that he should be able to examine without removal the cards at the back end of the card-receptacle with as great facility as those at the front end thereof, and having examined said cards it is necessary that means should be provided whereby the record-keeper may make an entry on any card without inconvenience to himself, and the necessity for these requirements becomes still more evident when it is borne in mind that the recordkeeper must stand at the desk practically all day and keep moving rapidly from one portion thereof to another and from the front to the back, and vice versa.

Accordingly myinvention comprises a desk of any proportions required to accommodate a sufficient stock of cards to suit the magnitude of the business in hand, said desk having a suitable framework preferably having supports at the ends only, the front of the desk where the operator must stand being provided with a sloping front, as I have found that this particular shape of front permits the record-keeper to assume a restful position and to examine the records without fatigue, whereas a vertical front causes great inconvenience and brings undue strain upon the muscles of the back and lower limbs of the' record-keeper, especially when he is eX- amining records at the back of the desk, and

composed of a plurality of removable drawers or card-holders, and flush with the top edge of the desk is a movable record-table.

The details of construction of my invention in its preferred embodiment, as herein shown, will be pointed out in the course of the following description, and the invention will be more particularly defined in the appended claims, forming a part of this specication.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a desk constructed to embody one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the record-holders, parts being broken away for clearness of illustration.

I have herein shown a desk for two records to accommodate a record-keeper on the opposite sides of the desk, said desk having end supports a., herein shown as solid, containing panels a', although it will be understood that any other suitable or rigid support may be employed. Between these end supports a are cross-bars a2, secured at their ends in the end supports and resting on end ledges a3. These bars serve the double purpose of permitting the record-keeper to rest one foot thereon while sustaining his weight on the other foot, and they also strengthen and give rigidity to the desk proper.

The top of the desk is made slantng, asindicated at a3, and has a front rail a4 and a back or top rail a5, both these rails on their inner edges having preferably a groove or track a6, in which grooves slide tongues a7 of a record-table a8, on which the operator may rest his arm and make entries on cards or sheets removed from or to be placed in the card-holders.

The top of the desk is open, said opening being bounded by the front rail a4, back rail a5, and ends of the desk, and Within this open space or box-like cavity are compartments to receive the record-cards, said compartments being herein shown as removable, the desk roo shown in the drawings containing ten of these removable card holders or receptacles, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the card-holder ai) consists of a rectangular box or receptacle of usual form,which may be of any usual kind or form except inv two important particulars. The front am thereof instead of being vertical, as has heretofore been Ithe case, is slanting, the top thereof projecting forward and the bottom retreating, the ends standing obliquely to the base, so that when the holders ai are in place, as shown in Fig. l, the fronts d10 thereof together constitute a sloping front inclining inwardly toward its bottom and outwardly toward its top, the entire front thereof standing obliquely to the bottom or base of the top of the desk. This sloping front permits the operator to stand erect without inconvenience while working and permits him when bending yover for examining cards adjacent the back part 0,5 of the desk to move the lower portion of his body inwardly to the extent naturally assumed by a person in bending forward, as stated, thereby preventing the undue taxing and fatiguing of the muscles which results if the desk has a straight or vertical front, which prevents the operator from freely assuming the position explained.

The holders contain usually rods cl2 and also contain label-holders als, said holders occupying a position at an angle to the front of the card-holder, said position being for a double purpose-viz., to permit them to be read readily and also to provide a cavity, as indicated at a, Fig. 2, in which the fingers may be placed for withdrawing the cardholder and handling the same.

The front edge of the front rail a4 is r0unded at @15 to prevent writers cramp, which has been found to take place where the edge of the desk has projected inwardly, as it will be readily understood that the operator must rest his arm on this edge for a considerable part of the time that he is standing in frontthereof, and for the same reason the table a8 is lower, so as to be substantially iiush with said front rail, and also said front rail at its front edge is preferably substantially lush with the front of the desk, so as to permit the operator tO' lean his weight without inconvenience against the desk, especiall)T when bending over, as mentioned.

In use the record-keeper may stand in front of the desk and slide the table along adjacent to the particular compartment or card-holder whose records he Wishes to examine or on whose ,records he wishes to enter additional data, and then he simply leans against the desk and examines the cards Without removal until he finds the particular record desired. lf this record is at the extreme back of the desk, he naturally shifts one foot to the bar or foot-rail a2, so as to carry the lower part of his body inward, thereby maintaining natural poise in the bent-over position assumed in leaning forward suiiciently to examine a card at the back of the desk, and this position is rendered convenient'by the sloping front of the desk, against which he may lean with his body while resting his left arm on the edge of the rail 0,4 and his right elbow and forearm on the table as, while using his two hands to manipulate the cards in the particular compartment being examined. The inclined front of the card holder or compartment also coperates with the cards to permit them to assume the required inclined position in the box or holder.

Heretofore it has been deemed necessary to provide at the front end of the card-holder 'an inclined block in addition to the front of the holder in order to cause the cards to assume the said inclined position; but by my invention this block is rendered unnecessary, and at the same time the other features of advantage are also secu red and the box is made neater in weight and less expensive.

For convenience of illustration I have omitted the hand-holes or label-holders andlockrods from most of the card-holders in Fig. 1.

Various changes in form, proportions, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A desk of the kind described, in which card-records are kept en masse to be examined, posted, and used by a record-keeper standing at the front of the desk, comprising a suitable framework including rigid supports of convenient height for one using the record while ina standing posture, a box-like top having the top edges ofits ends slanting downwardly toward the front and normally open at its top substantially from back to front of said box-like portion for regular continuous use, and provided with a front sloping gently inwardly toward the bottom from the front edge thereof for a substantial distance, to afford the user a comfortable support for a corresponding substantial distance when he occupies a standing posture against the front of the desk while examining cards at the rea-r part thereof.

2. A desk of the kind described, in which card-records are kept en masse to be examined, posted, and used by a record-keeper standing at the front of the desk; comprising a suitable framework including rigid supports of convenient height for one using the record while in a standing posture, a box-like top having the top edges of its ends slanting down- Wardly toward the front and normally open at its top for regular continuous use, and pro vided with a front sloping inwardly toward the bottom thereof to permit the user to maintain a comfortable standing posture against the front of the desk while examining cards at the rear part thereof, said top terminating IOO IIO

at its upper front edge in a rail rounded at its upper front edge flush with said sloping front,and the latter slopinginwardly as shown for asubstantial distance for the user to rest against.

3. A desk of the kind described, comprising a suitable framework including rigid supports, a box-like top having the top edges of its ends slanting downwardly toward the front and open at its top for use and provided with a front sloping inwardly toward the bottoln thereof, a movable table mounted in said top substantially flush with the front edge thereof, and tracks for the same to travel on longitudinally of the desk.

4. A desk of the kind described, comprising a suitable framework including rigid supports, a box-like top having the top -edges of its ends slantin g downwardly toward the front and open at its top for use, and provided with a front sloping inwardly toward the bottom thereof, said front consisting of the contiguous front ends of removable card-holders,each of said front ends being sloping and coperating with the rest of the front ends to make a substantially continuous and uniformly-inclined front to the desk.

5. A desk of the kind described, comprising end supports,a top carried thereby,a back rail, a lower front rail, an intervening space normally open when inuse, and a series of card-holders contained in and removable from said top, said card-holders each having a receptacle for cards and being provided with a front end outwardly inclined toward its top, the said several card-holders occupying positions in the desk side by side and constituting separate compartments in said top, and the several front ends of said holders constituting a sloping front to said top, with its top edge substantially flush with the front part of said front rail.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Y GEO. B. ME'LENEY.

Witnesses:

WM. D. KELLY, WM. S. CoRsON. 

